China Science & Technology Forum

[JSCh]

Electroplating delivers high-energy, high-power batteries
May 12, 2017 2:00 pm by Liz Ahlberg

Illinois professor Paul Braun and Hailong Ning, the director of research and development at Xerion Advanced Battery Corporation, led a research team that developed a method for directly electroplating lithium-ion battery cathodes.
Photo by L. Brian Stauffer

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The process that makes gold-plated jewelry or chrome car accents is now making powerful lithium-ion batteries.

Researchers at the University of Illinois, Xerion Advanced Battery Corporation and Nanjing University in China developed a method for electroplating lithium-ion battery cathodes, yielding high-quality, high-performance battery materials that could also open the door to flexible and solid-state batteries.

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An electron micrograph cross-section shows aluminum foil plated with lithium cobalt oxide, a common material in lithium-ion batteries.
Image courtesy of Hailong Ning and Jerome Davis III, Xerion Advanced Battery Corp.

“This is an entirely new approach to manufacturing battery cathodes, which resulted in batteries with previously unobtainable forms and functionalities,” said Paul V. Braun, a professor of materials science and engineering and director of the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Lab at Illinois. He co-led the research group that published its findings in the journal Science Advances.

Traditional lithium-ion battery cathodes use lithium-containing powders formed at high temperatures. The powder is mixed with gluelike binders and other additives into a slurry, which is spread on a thin sheet of aluminum foil and dried. The slurry layer needs to be thin, so the batteries are limited in how much energy they can store. The glue also limits performance.

“The glue is not active. It doesn’t contribute anything to the battery, and it gets in the way of electricity flowing in the battery,” said co-author Hailong Ning, the director of research and development at Xerion Advanced Battery Corporation in Champaign, a startup company co-founded by Braun. “You have all this inactive material taking up space inside the battery, while the whole world is trying to get more energy and power from the battery.”

The researchers bypassed the powder and glue process altogether by directly electroplating the lithium materials onto the aluminum foil.

​

Electroplating can be applied to textured, three-dimensional or flexible substrates, opening the door to new battery designs. The right side of this quarter was plated with lithium cobalt oxide.
Image courtesy of Hailong Ning and Jerome Davis III, Xerion Advanced Battery Corp.

Since the electroplated cathode doesn’t have any glue taking up space, it packs in 30 percent more energy than a conventional cathode, according to the paper. It can charge and discharge faster as well, since the current can pass directly through it and not have to navigate around the inactive glue or through the slurry’s porous structure. It also has the advantage of being more stable.

Additionally, the electroplating process creates pure cathode materials, even from impure starting ingredients. This means that manufacturers can use materials lower in cost and quality and the end product will still be high in performance, eliminating the need to start with expensive materials already brought up to battery grade, Braun said.

“This method opens the door to flexible and three-dimensional battery cathodes, since electroplating involves dipping the substrate in a liquid bath to coat it,” said co-author Huigang Zhang, a former senior scientist at Xerion who is now a professor at Nanjing University.

​

The electroplating method could enable flexible, three-dimensional battery designs. This plated aluminum foil rolled up without cracking.
Image courtesy of Hailong Ning and Jerome Davis III, Xerion Advanced Battery Corp.

The researchers demonstrated the technique on carbon foam, a lightweight, inexpensive material, making cathodes that were much thicker than conventional slurries. They also demonstrated it on foils and surfaces with different textures, shapes and flexibility.

“These designs are impossible to achieve by conventional processes,” Braun said. “But what’s really important is that it’s a high-performance material and that it’s nearly solid. By using a solid electrode rather than a porous one, you can store more energy in a given volume. At the end of the day, people want batteries to store a lot of energy.”

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science supported this work at the U. of I. Materials science and engineering professor Jian-Min Zuo also was part of the Illinois team.

The paper “Electroplating lithium transition metal oxides” is available online. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1602427



https://news.illinois.edu/blog/view/6367/500138

 

[Han Patriot]

Guys, anybody know about this news? Apparently, AMEC is rolling out 5nm tools end of this year to compete with 7nm tools. Please get me the full video for this please, all I could get from youtube was this short clip.
@Bussard Ramjet

Naura Technology (formerly Beijing Sevenstar Electronics) has started shipping ion etch equipment for the manufacture of 14nm chips to chipmakers, while Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment (AMEC) is being engaged in the development of etch tools for the production of 5nm chips, according to industry sources.

Naura has also secured continued orders from Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC), the largest China-based pure-play foundry, said the sources. SMIC has become an important client of Naura, which has already obtained orders for advanced-node manufacturing from the foundry's 12-inch fabs, the sources indicated.

SMIC plans to enhance its 28nm process variants to meet customers' various needs, while expanding production capacity at its 12-inch facilities. With China pusing its self-sufficiency rate for production of chipmaking equipment, Naura and other China-based fab toolmakers are being pinpointed as the major beneficiaries of SMIC's 12-inch fab expansion, the sources said.

Naura CEO Zhao Jinrong was quoted in previous reports as saying China's semiconductor equipment industry growth will be driven by the development of the country's homegrown IC industry supply chain. China's self-sufficiency rate for production of semiconductor equipment is still lower than 10%, but the proportion is expected to reach 30% within the next three years, according to Zhao.

Naura's sales generated from the semiconductor sector grew to CNY810 million (US$117 million) in 2016 from CNY520 million in 2015 - a 56.2% jump. The company expects to continue enjoying impressive revenue growth in 2017 driven by new orders.

AMEC is also among SMIC's major equipment suppliers in China. AMEC has been engaged in the development of 5nm etching tools for five years, and is expected to roll out the new product line at the end of 2017, according to industry sources. The availability of AMEC's 5nm etch equipment will be a milestone for China's homegrown chipmaking equipment industry.

 

[JSCh]

China sets up national lab developing brain-like AI technology
(Xinhua) 20:44, May 14, 2017

China's first national laboratory for brain-like artificial intelligence (AI) technology was inaugurated Saturday in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, to pool the country's top research talent and boost the technology.

Approved by the National Development and Reform Commission in January, the lab, based in China University of Science and Technology (USTC), aims to develop a brain-like computing paradigm and applications.

The university, known for its leading role in developing quantum communication technology, hosts the national lab in collaboration with a number of the country's top research bodies such as Fudan University, Shenyang Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences as well as Baidu, operator of China's biggest online search engine.

Wan Lijun, president of USTC and chairman of the national lab, said the ability to mimic the human brain's ability in sorting out information will help build a complete AI technology development paradigm.

The lab will carry out research to guide machine learning such as recognizing messages and using visual neural networks to solve problems. It will also focus on developing new applications with technological achievements.

 

[cirr]

YMTC 64-layer 3D NAND technology ready for mass production in 2019, says acting chairman

Josephine Lien, Taipei; Jessie Shen, DIGITIMES

[Monday 8 May 2017]

Yangtze River Storage Technology's (YMTC) 64-layer 3D NAND technology will be ready for mass production in 2019, according to Charles Kau, company acting chairman and executive VP of Tsinghua Unigroup.

YMTC plans to offer samples of its 32-layer 3D NAND products at the end of 2017, and expects to be capable of entering mass production of 64-layer NAND chips in 2019, said Kau. By 2020, YMTC will narrow the technology gap with its bigger rival Samsung Electronics to two years, Kau claimed.

YMTC has been enhancing its patent portfolio, and is confident its 3D NAND technology will outperform several rivals' over the next two to three years, Kau indicated.

Kau also urged China- and Taiwan-based chipmakers to work together in the memory-chip market, where their bigger Korea-based rivals dominate. Since Taiwan-based memory chipmakers do not have their own proprietary technology, they should consider improving the situation, Kau said.

In response to reports indicating Micron Technology has actively taken legal actions against its former employees stationed in Taiwan who allegedly stole the company's trade secrets and technologies to help China-based firms develop DRAM, Kau noted that all new employees are required not to bring any confidential documents and information with them to the company.

YMTC's goal is to attract talent to join it, and the company will not allow its employees to steal their former companies' trade secrets, according to Kau.

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20170505PD207.html

@Bussard Ramjet

 

[Han Patriot]

YMTC 64-layer 3D NAND technology ready for mass production in 2019, says acting chairman

Josephine Lien, Taipei; Jessie Shen, DIGITIMES

[Monday 8 May 2017]

Yangtze River Storage Technology's (YMTC) 64-layer 3D NAND technology will be ready for mass production in 2019, according to Charles Kau, company acting chairman and executive VP of Tsinghua Unigroup.

YMTC plans to offer samples of its 32-layer 3D NAND products at the end of 2017, and expects to be capable of entering mass production of 64-layer NAND chips in 2019, said Kau. By 2020, YMTC will narrow the technology gap with its bigger rival Samsung Electronics to two years, Kau claimed.

YMTC has been enhancing its patent portfolio, and is confident its 3D NAND technology will outperform several rivals' over the next two to three years, Kau indicated.

Kau also urged China- and Taiwan-based chipmakers to work together in the memory-chip market, where their bigger Korea-based rivals dominate. Since Taiwan-based memory chipmakers do not have their own proprietary technology, they should consider improving the situation, Kau said.

In response to reports indicating Micron Technology has actively taken legal actions against its former employees stationed in Taiwan who allegedly stole the company's trade secrets and technologies to help China-based firms develop DRAM, Kau noted that all new employees are required not to bring any confidential documents and information with them to the company.

YMTC's goal is to attract talent to join it, and the company will not allow its employees to steal their former companies' trade secrets, according to Kau.

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20170505PD207.html

@Bussard Ramjet

Even with 32 layer DRAM, we are still behing Hynix, they are going to unveil 48 layer. Anyway, it's not that we can't develop the technology, the problem is we can't develop it fast enough, consumer electronics is extremely fast moving unlike military tech.

 

[JSCh]

Chinese Scientists Realize On-site Drug Detection
May 16, 2017

Chinese scientists developed a portable kit for identification and detection of drugs which may realize rapid and reliable on-site detection of drug in human urine.

Simulation diagram of the portable kit (Image by DONG Ronglu) ​

Chinese Scientists at Institute of Intelligent Machines(IIM), Hefei Institutes of Physical Science works closely with Anhui Provincial Public Security Bureau narcotics Corps, Evidence Identification Center of Anhui Public Security Bureau and Anhui CAS-SAFER Technology Limited Company (CASA) to create a portable kit for identification and detection of drugs which has been proved to applicable in rapid and reliable on-site detection of drug in human urine.

Previously, the team conducted a series of innovative work to exploit pretreatment methods and design Raman spectrometer including differential confocal microscopy, integrating enhanced Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) substrate.

Now, the portable kit has been completed, which mainly consists of four parts, including pretreatment module, enhanced chip module, intelligent identification module and spectrometer module.

In the field of core technology, the portable kit uses SERS as a kind of spectrum detection technology, and can realize rapid and accurate detection in trace analysis owing to fingerprint identification of SERS. In the aspect of instrument software, researchers have developed reliable data processing systems.

To date, a large number of experiments have been carried out on the real drug samples of human urine by using the portable kit to verify the accuracy of the results.

However, the components are complex in human urine, making it important to overcome the interference problem in the rapid detection process. Hence, the pre-treatment methods will be further optimized.

Meanwhile, the database of drugs will be established completely as soon as possible. In the near future, the assembled ultra-sensitive portable kit will be better applied to the on-site analysis of drugs.

''In view of the prevalence of heroin, methamphetamine and new-type drugs, the portable kit will step into its practical use in Anhui Province firstly, however we plan to promote the device in the public security system around the whole country ultimately", pointed out Prof. YANG Liangbao, the leader of the research team as well as a scientist of IIM.


Chinese Scientists Realize On-site Drug Detection---Chinese Academy of Sciences

 

[JSCh]

World’s first full-body PET-CT scanner unveiled at medical equipment fair in Shanghai
(People's Daily Online) 16:24, May 17, 2017

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A new PET-CT scanner has been unveiled at the China International Medical Equipment Fair in Shanghai. It is the world’s first full-body dynamic scanner.

The scanner, named uExplorer, is 2 meters long and can scan the entire body. Its creators are now applying for approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and it is expected to hit the market by the end of 2018, according to Shanghai United Imaging Healthcare, one of its designers.

The uExplorer boasts milestone significance in the field of medical imaging, as it is 40 times more sensitive than most scanners that were previously available, and can shorten scan times to less than 30 seconds. Radiation impact has also been decreased to about one-fortieth of average scanners, making it safe for pregnant patients and infants, Thepaper.cn reported. The equipment can even present images in four dimensions.

Li Hongdi, CEO of Shanghai United Imaging Healthcare’s U.S. subsidiary, told reporters that the scanner is “mind-blowing.”

“It means doctors can see the full body scan at the same time, and the imaging is dynamic. We can work to find out how our brains give orders to different organs, to name one example,” Li said, adding that preliminary research and development of the scanner cost some $15.5 million.

The uExplorer could also speed up pharmaceutical development for new medicines targeting specific diseases, making treatments more precise and effective. Given its high sensitivity, the scanner can also detect more minor indicators at an earlier time.

 

[Han Patriot]

@Bussard Ramjet
SMART CHINA, documentary by DISCOVERY CHANNEL on Chinese technology, in English, watch the whole series.

 

[JSCh]

Stars as random number generators could test foundations of physics
May 16, 2017 by Lisa Zyga

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The proposed Bell test uses stars and quasars as random number generators to address the freedom-of-choice loophole and show that the quantum world does not obey local realism. Credit: Wu et al. ©2017 American Physical Society

(Phys.org)—Stars, quasars, and other celestial objects generate photons in a random way, and now scientists have taken advantage of this randomness to generate random numbers at rates of more than one million numbers per second. Generating random numbers at very high rates has a variety of applications, such as in cryptography and computer simulations.

But the researchers in the new study are also interested in using these cosmic random number generators for another purpose: to test the foundations of physics by progressively addressing another loophole in the Bell tests. While Bell tests show that quantum particles are correlated in ways that cannot be explained by classical physics, the results may not be reliable if parts of these tests manage to take advantage of any kind of loophole.

The researchers, led by Jian-Wei Pan, at the University of Science and Technology of China in Shanghai, have published a paper on using cosmic sources to generate random numbers in a recent issue of Physical Review Letters.


--> https://phys.org/news/2017-05-stars-random-foundations-physics.html

More information: Cheng Wu et al. "Random Number Generation with Cosmic Photons." Physical Review Letters. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.140402

 

[Han Patriot]

Stars as random number generators could test foundations of physics
May 16, 2017 by Lisa Zyga

​

The proposed Bell test uses stars and quasars as random number generators to address the freedom-of-choice loophole and show that the quantum world does not obey local realism. Credit: Wu et al. ©2017 American Physical Society

(Phys.org)—Stars, quasars, and other celestial objects generate photons in a random way, and now scientists have taken advantage of this randomness to generate random numbers at rates of more than one million numbers per second. Generating random numbers at very high rates has a variety of applications, such as in cryptography and computer simulations.

But the researchers in the new study are also interested in using these cosmic random number generators for another purpose: to test the foundations of physics by progressively addressing another loophole in the Bell tests. While Bell tests show that quantum particles are correlated in ways that cannot be explained by classical physics, the results may not be reliable if parts of these tests manage to take advantage of any kind of loophole.

The researchers, led by Jian-Wei Pan, at the University of Science and Technology of China in Shanghai, have published a paper on using cosmic sources to generate random numbers in a recent issue of Physical Review Letters.


--> https://phys.org/news/2017-05-stars-random-foundations-physics.html

More information: Cheng Wu et al. "Random Number Generation with Cosmic Photons." Physical Review Letters. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.140402

@Bussard Ramjet Another paper this month? I guess it's menial work again, non theoretical work I guess.

 

[JSCh]

Wenchao Ma, Bin Chen, Ying Liu, Mengqi Wang, Xiangyu Ye, Fei Kong, Fazhan Shi, Shao-Ming Fei, and Jiangfeng Du, "Experimental Demonstration of Uncertainty Relations for the Triple Components of Angular Momentum", Phys. Rev. Lett. (2017), DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.180402

Abstract

The uncertainty principle is considered to be one of the most striking features in quantum mechanics. In the textbook literature, uncertainty relations usually refer to the preparation uncertainty which imposes a limitation on the spread of measurement outcomes for a pair of noncommuting observables. In this work, we study the preparation uncertainty for the angular momentum, especially for spin-1/2. We derive uncertainty relations encompassing the triple components of angular momentum and show that, compared with the relations involving only two components, a triple constant 2/3 often arises. Intriguingly, this constant is the same for the position and momentum case. Experimental verification is carried out on a single spin in diamond, and the results confirm the triple constant in a wide range of experimental parameters.​

 

[JSCh]

Tongji’s diabetes breakthrough
By Yang Meiping | 00:01 UTC+8 May 18, 2017

DIABETES patients can look forward to an easier way of controlling their blood glucose levels.

Instead of injecting insulin and taking antidiabetic medicines several times a day, they will be able to use a “nano-sized sugar sponge.”

It has been developed by a team from Tongji University.

The sugar sponge, which has been tested on mice, is actually a lectin-bound glycopolymersome. The lectin will bind and store the glucose from its surrounding solution when the glucose concentration is too high, and release the glucose when the glucose concentration is too low, according to the university’s Professor Du Jianzhong.

Paper: Yufen Xiao, Hui Sun, and Jianzhong Du. "Sugar-Breathing Glycopolymersomes for Regulating Glucose Level". J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2017). DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b03219

 

[JSCh]

China develops new technique to produce graphene from corn cobs
By Zhang Huan (People's Daily Online) 16:27, May 18, 2017

A Chinese expert has developed a new technique to produce biomass graphene material from the cellulose in corn cobs. The technology has already been put into mass production, creating a considerable output value, Science and Technology Daily reported on May 16.

The new technique, developed by a team from Heilongjiang University, revolutionizes traditional methods, which are hindered by long production periods and limited production capacity, in addition to producing environmental pollutants. The graphene material extracted from biomass is high quality and performs well in electrical conductivity.

Early in 2014, the team, led by Professor Fu, established the world’s first line for mass production of graphene with an annual output of 20 tons. It was expanded to 100 tons annually in 2016.

In China, the yearly output of corn cobs among all biomass can reach as much as 100 million tons, most of which comes from northeast China, Shandong province and Hebei province. The product line, supported by biomass graphene materials with a yearly output of 100 tons, can create an output value of 300 to 500 million RMB (between $43.6 million and $72.7 million).

 

[JSCh]

Key Diabetes Receptor Structure Determined by International Collaboration—Shanghai Led Consortium Produces High Resolution 3D map of GLP-1R


SHANGHAI, May 17, 2017 — An international team led by the iHuman Institute, ShanghaiTech University has determined the 3-dimensional molecular structure of the human glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) drug binding domain. The work reveals molecular mechanisms of allosteric regulation in class B G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). The results, described in a paper entitled “Human GLP-1 receptor transmembrane domain structure in complex with allosteric modulators”, is published online on May 17, 2017 in the journal Nature. This paper is published simultaneously with a companion paper led by colleagues at the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM) describing the full-length glucagon receptor in the same journal.

Secreted by the gut, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) exerts its glucose control on the human body by binding to GLP-1R that is expressed on the surfaces of specific cells (e.g., pancreatic β cells). GLP-1R is a well-recognized drug target for type 2 diabetes, exemplified by several peptidic therapeutic agents on the market, with combined sales of several billions of dollars each year. Although effective, the peptide therapeutics are not orally available and many have side effects. Worldwide, the costs associated with treating diabetes and its complications are estimated to exceed $200bn a year. The number of patients with diabetes is growing at an alarming rate throughout the world, with the most significant and recent growth occurring in China.

The high resolution GLP-1R structure was determined in complex with two negative allosteric modulators (NAMs), respectively. Both structures are in an inactive conformation with each NAM bound in a similar pocket but distinctly different binding modes on the external surface of the receptor. Molecular modeling and mutation analysis suggest that agonist positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) target the same general region, but in a distinct sub-pocket. While the NAMs block the activation of GLP-1R by inserting into the cavity between helices VI and VII, PAMs binds mainly to the space between helices V and VI enabling the activation. “This structure is one of the holy grails of GPCR drug discovery” said Professor Raymond Stevens at the iHuman Institute, ShanghaiTech University who co-led the study.

Since most peptide drugs are administrated via non-oral routes, orally available GLP-1 or its small molecule surrogates have been vigorously sought after by many of the multi-national pharmaceutical companies. Determination of the three-dimensional structure of GLP-1R is thus helpful to better design and develop new therapeutics targeting the receptor. “GPCRs that bind peptides can be particularly challenging for small molecule drug discovery given multiple points of connection between the peptide and receptor. With the atomic resolution data, we can now see the atoms in the binding site and design safer next generation small molecule therapeutics” said iHuman Associate Professor Gaojie Song.

“This major undertaking started in 2002 when we were looking for small molecule GLP-1R agonists.” said Professor Ming-Wei Wang of Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica and Fudan University who co-led the study. “Our failed efforts in making the first orally active GLP-1R agonist Boc5 led us to conclude that high resolution structural biology is the preferred solution to druggability. Our research collaboration with the Stevens laboratory in Shanghai has been extremely rewarding and productive. We have made several significant discoveries that are impacting and will continue to impact the drug discovery field for many years to come. In the end, the biggest winner will be the patients ill with metabolic disorders.”

The team effort was also co-led by iHuman Institute Professor and Deputy Director Zhi-Jie Liu. Other contributors in this study include Yuxia Wang, Qingtong Zhou, Kaiwen Liu, Dongsheng Liu, Suwen Zhao, Yiran Wu, and Wu Fan from ShanghaiTech University, Dehua Yang, Xiaoqing Cai, Antai Dai, Guangyai Lin, and Beili Wu from Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Shanshan Jiang and Li Ye from Fudan University, Chris de Graaf from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Gye Won Han from University of Southern California, Jesper Lau from Novo Nordisk, and Michael A. Hanson from GPCR Consortium. Financial support for this work comes from, in part, Shanghai Municipal Government, ShanghaiTech University, National “1000 Talents Program for Foreign Experts”, Shanghai “Pujiang Talents” grant, GPCR Consortium, National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Health and Family Planning Commission, Ministry of Science and Technology of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Shanghai Science and Technology Development Fund.


iHuman Institute of ShanghaiTech – Key Diabetes Receptor Structure Determined by International Collaboration—Shanghai Led Consortium Produces High Resolution 3D map of GLP-1R

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A First Full-length Class B GPCR Crystal Structure Reveals Novel Receptor Activation Mechanisms
Update time： 2017-05-18

Structure of the full-length human glucagon receptor ignites new excitement in GPCR research

A team of scientists from Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has determined the high-resolution atomic structure of a full-length class B G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) that plays a key role in glucose homeostasis. This structure reveals, for the first time, the structural framework of different domains of a class B GPCR at high resolution and unexpectedly discloses many exciting molecular features, greatly deepening the understanding of signaling mechanisms of class B GPCRs.

In an article published online in Nature on May 17, 2017 (18:00PM, London time) titled “Structure of the full-length glucagon class B G protein-coupled receptor”, scientists at SIMM, in collaboration with several groups based in China (ShanghaiTech University, Zhengzhou University and Fudan University), United States (University of Southern California, The Scripps Research Institute, Arizona State University and GPCR Consortium), the Netherlands (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) and Denmark (Novo Nordisk), provided a detailed molecular map of the full-length human glucagon receptor (GCGR) in complex with a negative allosteric modulator (NNC0640) and the antigen-binding fragment of an inhibitory antibody (mAb1). This study is published together in Nature with a companion paper led by colleagues at the iHuman Institute, ShanghaiTech University describing the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R).

Class B GPCRs are essential to numerous physiological processes and serve as important drug targets for many human diseases such as type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, osteoporosis, migraine, depression and anxiety. According to team leader and SIMM professor Dr. WU Beili, “The GCGR structure provides a clear picture of a full-length class B GPCR at high resolution, and helps us understand how different domains cooperate in modulating the receptor function at the molecular level.” Class B GPCR receptors consist of an extracellular domain (ECD) and a transmembrane domain (TMD), both of which are required to interact with their cognate peptide ligands and to regulate downstream signal transduction. Due to difficulties in high-quality protein preparation, structures of full-length class B GPCRs remained elusive, thus limiting a comprehensive understanding of molecular mechanisms of receptor action.

This study gives some valuable insights into the structure of GCGR. The most exciting finding is that the linker region connecting the ECD and TMD of the receptor, termed the “stalk”, works together with an extracellular loop of the TMD to regulate peptide binding through conformational changes, serving like a modulator in receptor activation. “Although the stalk region only contains 12 amino acids, it acts as a ‘switch’ to turn on or turn off the receptor,” said Dr. WU. “It is amazing to observe how a GPCR regulates its function in such a precise and efficient way.”

Based on the full-length GCGR structure, the researchers performed a series of functional studies using hydrogen-deuterium exchange, disulfide cross-linking, competitive ligand binding and cell signaling assays as well as molecular dynamics simulations. The results are in support of the GCGR structure and confirm the interactions between different domains in modulating its functionality via conformational alterations. “This study was carried out in a team effort with experts from different fields and different countries. International collaboration is of paramount importance in solving major problems in science nowadays,” said Dr. JIANG Hualiang, director general of SIMM.

“The full-length GCGR structure not only expands our knowledge about GPCR signaling mechanisms, but also offers new opportunities in drug discovery targeting class B GPCRs,” said Dr. Ming-Wei Wang, Director of the National Center for Drug Screening. “With the information gained from this structure, we are in a better position to devise new therapeutic strategies involving both GCGR and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor for obesity and type 2 diabetes.”

In addition to Drs. WU, WANG and JIANG, other study investigators included Dr. ZHAO Qiang, Dr. YANG Dehua and two graduate students (ZHANG Haonan and QIAO Anna) from SIMM, Dr. YAND Linlin of Zhengzhou University and Dr. Raymond Stevens from the iHuman Institute, ShanghaiTech University. The study was funded by the National Basic Research Programs, the National Health and Family Planning Commission, the National Natural Science Foundation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai Science and Technology Development Fund, GPCR Consortium and National Institutes of Health (U.S.A.).



Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM) - A First Full-length Class B GPCR Crystal Structure Reveals Novel Receptor Activation Mechanisms

Journal Reference:

1. Gaojie Song et al. Human GLP-1 receptor transmembrane domain structure in complex with allosteric modulators, Nature (2017). DOI: 10.1038/nature22378
   
2. Haonan Zhang et al. Structure of the full-length glucagon class B G-protein-coupled receptor. Nature (2017). DOI: 10.1038/nature22363

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More information on the research,

Improving drugs for type 2 diabetes
Date: May 17, 2017
Source: Arizona State University

Type 2 diabetes, a prolific killer, is on a steep ascent. According to the World Health Organization, the incidence of the condition has grown dramatically from 108 million cases in 1980 to well over 400 million today. The complex disease occurs when the body's delicate regulation of glucose, a critical metabolite, is disrupted, creating a condition of elevated blood sugar known hyperglycemia. Over time, the condition can damage the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves.

In a new study, Wei Liu and his colleagues at The Biodesign Institute join an international team, led by Beili Wu from the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, to explore a central component in glucose regulation. Their findings shed new light on the structure of the glucagon receptor, a highly promising target for diabetes drug development.


--> Improving drugs for type 2 diabetes -- ScienceDaily

 

[JSCh]

Scientists Engineer Disease-Resistant Rice Without Sacrificing Yield
By Guest
On May 17, 2017

Researchers have developed a way to make rice more resistant to bacterial blight and other diseases without reducing yield. Photo by Max Pixel.

Researchers have successfully developed a novel method that allows for increased disease resistance in rice without decreasing yield. A team at Duke University, working in collaboration with scientists at Huazhong Agricultural University in China, describe the findings in a paper published May 17, 2017 in the journal Nature.

Rice is one of the most important staple crops, responsible for providing over one-fifth of the calories consumed by humans worldwide. Diseases caused by bacterial or fungal pathogens present a significant problem, and can result in the loss of 80 percent or more of a rice crop.

Decades of research into the plant immune response have identified components that can be used to engineer disease-resistant plants. However, their practical application to crops is limited due to the decreased yield associated with a constantly active defense response.

“Immunity is a double-edged sword, ” said study co-author Xinnian Dong, professor of biology at Duke and lead investigator of the study. “There is often a tradeoff between growth and defense because defense proteins are not only toxic to pathogens but also harmful to self when overexpressed,” Dong said. “This is a major challenge in engineering disease resistance for agricultural use because the ultimate goal is to protect the yield.”


---> Scientists Engineer Disease-Resistant Rice Without Sacrificing Yield – Duke Research Blog

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Rice plant engineered with a ‘tunable’ immune system could fight multiple diseases at once
By Ryan Cross. May. 18, 2017 , 5:00 PM

Farmers are constantly spraying pesticides on their crops to combat an array of viral, bacterial, and fungal invaders. Scientists have been trying to get around these chemicals for years by genetically engineering hardy plants resilient to the array of diseases caused by microbial beasties. Most attempts so far confer protection against a single disease, but now researchers have developed a rice plant that fights multiple pathogens at once—without loss to the crop yield—by hooking up a tunable amplifier to the plant’s immune system.

“For as long as I have been in this field, people have been scratching their heads about how to activate a defense system where and when it is needed,” says Jonathan Jones, who studies plant defense mechanisms at the Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich, U.K. “It is among the most promising lines of research in this field that I have seen.”

Plants don’t have a bloodstream to circulate immune cells. Instead, they use receptors on the outsides of their cells to identify molecules that signal a microbial invasion, and respond by releasing a slew of antimicrobial compounds. Theoretically, identifying genes that kick off this immune response and dialing up their activity should yield superstrong plants.

Plant biologist Xinnian Dong at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, has been studying one of these genes for 20 years—a “master regulator,” she says, of plant defense. The gene, called NPR1 in the commonly studied thale cress plant (Arabidopsis thaliana)—a small and weedy plant topped with white flowers—has been a popular target for scientists trying to boost immune systems of rice, wheat, apples, tomatoes, and more. But turning up NPR1 works too well and “makes the plants miserable, so it is not very useful for agriculture,” Dong says.

To understand why, consider the human immune system. Just as sick people aren’t very productive at work when their fever is high, plants grow poorly when their own immune systems are overloaded. Likewise, keeping the NPR1 gene turned on all the time stunts plant growth so severely there is no harvest for the farmers.

To make NPR1 useful, researchers needed a better control switch—one that would crank up the immune response only when the plant was under attack, but otherwise would turn it down to let the plants grow. Two papers published in Nature this week from Dong’s team at Duke, in collaboration with researchers at Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan, China, describe the discovery and application of such a mechanism.

While investigating an immune system-activating protein called TBF1 in Arabidopsis, Dong discovered an intricate system that speedily instigates an immune response. It works by taking ready-to-go messenger RNA molecules that encode TBF1, and quickly translating these molecules into TBF1 proteins, which then kick-start an array of immune defenses. Dong quickly recognized that a segment of DNA, which she calls the “TBF1 cassette,” was acting as a control switch for this plant immune response, so she copied that TBF1 cassette from the Arabidopsis genome and pasted it alongside and in front of the NPR1 gene in rice plants.

The result is a strain of rice that can rapidly and reversibly ramp up its immune system in bursts that are strong enough to fend off offending pathogens but short enough to avoid the stunted growth seen in previously engineered crops.

The researchers demonstrated that their rice was superior compared with regular rice by inoculating their leaves with the bacterial pathogens that cause rice blight (Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae) and leaf streak (X. oryzae pv. oryzicola), as well as the fungus responsible for blast disease (Magnaporthe oryzae). Whereas the infections spread over the leaves of the wild rice plants, the engineered plants readily confined the invaders to a small area. “These plants perform very well in the field, and there is no obvious fitness penalty, especially in the grain number and weight,” Dong says.

The research could be a boon for farmers in developing countries someday, says Jeff Dangl, an expert on plant immunity at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, who was not involved in the study. For instance, rice blast disease, which the plants effectively combatted, causes an estimated 30% loss of the annual rice crop worldwide. “In the developing world, when farmers that can’t afford fungicide get the disease in their fields, they can lose their whole crop,” Dangl says.

Julia Bailey-Serres, a plant biologist at the University of California, Riverside, is excited about the study too. “They haven’t done large trials yet to show how robust it will be, but our back of the envelope calculation shows that this really could have a big impact,” she says. “It could easily be applicable to multiple species of crops,” she says, adding that “it is impressive that it worked across two kingdoms” of fungal and bacterial pathogens.

But all are careful to note that it is still early days for immune-boosted crops. For one, the particular kind of uplift conferred by NPR1 is unlikely to provide protection against plant-munching insects. A second caveat is that the study only tested the rice’s response to microbes that parasitize living host cells; their defense against a different class of pathogens that kill cells for food is still untested. “I would keep the champagne on ice until there are a few more pathogen systems tested in the field,” Jones says.

Still, Jones says he’s hopeful the work—and more like it—could eventually lead to the end of pesticides. “I like to imagine in 50 years’ time my grandchildren will say, ‘Granddad, did people really use chemicals to control disease when they could have used genetics?’ And I’ll say, ‘Yeah, they did.’ That’s where we want to get to.”


Rice plant engineered with a ‘tunable’ immune system could fight multiple diseases at once | Science | AAAS



Journal Reference:

1. Guoyong Xu, George H. Greene, Heejin Yoo, Lijing Liu, Jorge Marqués, Jonathan Motley & Xinnian Dong. Global translational reprogramming is a fundamental layer of immune regulation in plants, Nature (2017). DOI: 10.1038/nature22371
2. Guoyong Xu, Meng Yuan, Chaoren Ai, Lijing Liu, Edward Zhuang, Sargis Karapetyan, Shiping Wang & Xinnian Dong. uORF-mediated translation allows engineered plant disease resistance without fitness costs, Nature (2017). DOI: 10.1038/nature22372